Bedroom environment

Challenge

If our bedroom environment isn’t calm and consistent, our ability to fall asleep and stay asleep will be disrupted.

Comfort

No one is going to sleep well if they’re uncomfortable.

Get into your bed and decide, is it a comfy and inviting place to be?

If it’s not, why not? Do you need a new mattress?

Sometime teens can find themselves sleeping on a mattress they’ve had (and outgrown) since they were at primary school.

Temperature

We often tend to make our sleeping environment warmer than needed, thinking this might help us sleep.

However, a cooler room actually helps us get to sleep.

Colours

A room screaming with bright red walls or covered in chaotic pictures won’t help you sleep.

Light and sound levels

Given what we know about light’s impact on our circadian rhythm, it’s no surprise that bright or blinking lights will disrupt our sleep.

Noise can both stop us falling asleep and wake us up in the night.It’s not just loud noises.

If there are changes to low level background noise whilst we sleep, the change may cause our bodies to wake up.

Clutter

The adults in your home may complain about how messy your bedroom is — do they have a point?

Clutter can make us feel stressed, especially if it’s a pile of schoolwork.

Although you can’t see the clutter when you close your eyes, it’s the last thing you look at before you go to sleep, which may influence any anxious or worrying thoughts.

Associations

Doing any activities in bed that cause anxiety or that you need to be alert for teaches your brain to associate your bed with being a place to be awake and/or worried — meaning you don’t relax when you’re in it.

Strategies

An ideal bedroom environment needs to be free of distractions, quiet, dark, clutter free and cool.

Comfort

Make sure your mattress is comfortable and suitable for a teenage body.

Consider changing your pillows or asking your parents or carers if it’s possible to get some more suitable bedding if needed.

Temperature

Between 16 and 18 degrees is an ideal temperature for sleep.

Colours

Try opting for neutral colours.

You may not be able to redecorate but that doesn’t stop you from getting creative.

If you have quite a loud feature wall, position your bed so you’re facing away from it whilst sleeping.

Clutter

You may not be able to make the bedroom a complete clutter-freezone but try to keep it as tidy as possible.

Put clothes away and dirty cups in the dishwasher and tidy your working area.

Light and sound levels

It’s okay to need some light or sound to help you fall asleep. Just make sure it’s appropriate; like a low night light with a soft glow or a gentle, relaxing piece of music.

White noise can also be useful, especially if there are other environmental sounds you can’t control such as busy roads, railways or noisy neighbours.

Just remember your sleep cycles and keep anything you have on in place throughout the night to help you sleep consistently.

Associations

It’s important that you associate your bed (and preferably your whole bedroom) with a place to be relaxed and sleepy.

Try not to do schoolwork or activities that make you anxious or alert in your bed. If you can, set up a separate space or desk to do these tasks.

This prevents your mind and body from associating your bed with these activities so it knows it can automatically relax when you get into bed.

Plans for my bedroom environment

Comfort:

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Temperature:

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Colours:

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Clutter:

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Light and sound levels:

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Associations:

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Other plans:

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Page last reviewed: 7 February, 2024